You Are Not Alone
by Everley N. Betiko
Summary: Rose notices the Doctor's pocketwatch and knows she's seen something like it before. I might turn this into a multi-chapter story, but for right now, it's a one-shot. ULTRA SUPER PARALLEL UNIVERSE inspired by what happens to Rose at the end of the 2nd season and such. After all, there have to be more parallel universes, don't there?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Rose's character has always been one of my favorites. I love her to pieces, really, I do. I don't think I've really captured either her or the Tenth Doctor's personalities at all, considering this is the first fanfic I've ever written for Doctor Who. Also, any mispellings are completely unintentional, as I'm writing this on a dappy old laptop that has no spellcheck and a terrible keyboard. TOODLEOO! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! 3**

"Doctor, what...what's this?" asked Rose, calling across the Tardis. Slightly startled, he looked up to see her holding a nondescript pocketwatch.

"Oh, that's just my pocketwatch!" he replied, vaulting over the banister and walking cooly up to her. "See, if I ever needed to...well, let's say, lay low for a while, this would hold all of my Time Lord memories and such. It's neat, really. It's got a perception filter, so I wouldn't see it as anything special, I wouldn't really even notice it. I'd be human, and keep aging, and it's a complicated process really, with lots of...sciency...stuff," with a bright smile, he flipped up his glasses and turned to go back to the controls. "SO, where to next? We could go to...oh, I dunno, anywhere." The smile still on his face, he stopped and turned back to look at Rose, who was gazing intently at the pocketwatch, looking troubled.

"I...wouldn't even...notice it?" she asked haltingly, gazing still at the watch.

"Sorry?" Jumping, Rose looked back up at him, hands still clasping the little watch.

"What?"

"I thought...didn't you...you just said something," said the doctor, motioning wildly with his hands at Rose, who was still in a state of bewilderment.

"Oh, oh yeah, yeah I did. Look, there's something I forgot at my-at home. Can we just pop in so I can grab it? It'll only take a minute, and then we can be off to...anywhere." She smiled, slipping the watch into her pocket in one fluid movement. "Yeah? Is that okay?" The Doctor eyed her curiously and then set to work, buzzing around the Tardis in that old familiar fashion.

.oOo.

The instant the Tardis touched down, Rose flew out the door and up the steps. She didn't say hello to her mother or to Mickey, who both jumped up as she banged open the door. Instead, she sprinted to her room and began tearing through old jewelry boxes and dusty drawers.

And then she found it. The one thing her friends had always fawned over but that she couldn't care less about. An old battered pocketwatch, nearly identical to the Doctor's. Hands trembling, sitting there in the middle of tangled pasta necklaces and forlorn lockets and half forgotten friendship charms, she looked. She looked at the intricate circles on the casing, at the small button that would open the watch, at the loop that was meant for the chain. Slowly, breathlessly, she pushed down. The watch sprang open, and columns of golden light sprang forth. They swirled and shimmered in the dusk air, illuminating every upturned feature of Rose's face. Her eyes, her hazel happy eyes, glowed, tiny little facets in her iris grinning like diamonds in a sunset. Then the light was gone. When Rose looked up, she could see the Doctor, her Doctor, and Mickey, and mum.

But more than that, she could remember.

_Oh yes, Doctor, you are not alone. _


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I didn't intend to continue this story, but pretty much every single review on the first chapter was "I really like it! Please keep going!" Which, I have to say, was really surprising. I hope you guys don't feel let down by this second chapter, which, for now at least, will be the last.**

There was a brief moment of silence, a hesitation in the air before Jackie started to scream.

"What the hell is going on here?" she screeched at the Doctor, who stood staring at Rose, hands in his pockets and bewildered look on his face. "Explain to me what that weird...light...thing was!"

"I...I...Rose?" The Doctor's voice was devoid of its usual confidence, instead echoing the broken loneliness he was so used to. His eyes filled with wonderment, he crouched in front of Rose, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But how?" he muttered, his exploratory side begging to know everything.

"Dad. Dad was a...he must not have regenerated, it happened too quickly." Rose stared back down at the watch, the tears dripping down her face. "Oh god Dad," she whispered, looking at the now empty watch. Her form dissolved into tears, and the Doctor eased her up into his arms, ignoring Jackie's questions and Mickey's stony face.

"Just tell me what's happening!" Jackie yelled as the Doctor carried Rose down the stairs and back out to the TARDIS.

"I will, Jackie," he called back, "later." Gently, he set Rose down inside, crouching in front of her and holding her hands. There was a glimmer of fear in his eyes, a tiny little sliver that vanished when she looked back up at him.

"What happened, to Gallifrey? To...home?" she asked. Then the Doctor knew everything would be fine. She was still the same, still as curious, still the perfect girl she had always been. Nothing had changed about her.

He opened his mouth and began to speak, to tell her evereything. It was time she knew what he had done, knew how guilty he really was. And when he was finished, she reached out and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. Her mouth pressed into his hair and he felt the outline of the pocket watch against his back beneath her fingers. The gesture was so familiar and so different, and the Doctor let himself be comforted for once. His arms traced around her body, completing the circuit, filling out the circle.

Both of them cried, neither of them sure why.

The stars weren't quite the same after that. Oh no, they weren't damaged and the beauty wasn't gone. There was something more between the two of them, something that made their adventures so much better, so much more real. Instead of Rose tagging along for the ride, it was Rose and the Doctor, both and together. And it was fantastic.


End file.
